Do you know what’s in your credit report? Besides receiving competitive loan rates, your rates for all kinds of insurance and even rent may be affected by what is in your credit report. Not to mention that prospective employers are now pulling credit reports.

The good news is that you are entitled to one free credit report per year from each of the three major credit bureaus. Therefore I am setting up a yearly schedule for pulling your Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax credit reports and reminding you when the time arrives.

The schedule will include pulls in February, June, and October, so as to spot negative issues more quickly, rather than pulling all three at once.

You can obtain your free credit report here: https://www.annualcreditreport.com/

The process is simple, although once you choose Experian, you will be asked a handful of credit questions about your history to verify your identity. You may want to have your financial records available because you will be asked multiple choice questions about loan providers and monthly payment amounts.

Once you are into the Experian site, just skip all the pay options (unless you also want to check your credit score- you will have to pay to do so) and choose your free credit report. At this point, save or print it out for your future use and perusal. If you have any disputed issues, make sure you contact the credit bureau ASAP!

There you go! See you again in June for TransUnion.